Israel

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Israel (/ˈɪzri.ǝl, -reɪ-/; Hebrew: ‫ י ִשְׂ רָ אֵל‬Yīsrāʾēl

[jisʁaˈʔel]; Arabic: ‫ﺳرَاﺋِٮ"ﻞ‬
ْ ِ ‫ إ‬ʾIsrāʾīl), officially the
State of Israel (‫ מְדִ ינ ַת י ִשְׂ רָ אֵל‬Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl
[mediˈnat jisʁaˈʔel]; ‫ﺳرَاﺋِٮ"ﻞ‬ْ ِ ‫ َد ْوﻟَﺔ إ‬Dawlat Isrāʾīl),
is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by
Lebanon to the north, by Syria to the
northeast, by Jordan to the east, by the Red
Sea to the south, by Egypt to the southwest,
by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, and by
the Palestinian territories – the West Bank
along the east and the Gaza Strip along the
southwest. Tel Aviv is the economic and
technological center of the country, while its
seat of government is in its proclaimed capital
of Jerusalem, although Israeli sovereignty
over East Jerusalem is unrecognized
internationally.[18][fn 5]

State of Israel
‫( מְדִ ינַת יִשׂ ְָראֵל‬Hebrew)
ِ ‫سر‬
‫ائيل‬َ ْ ِ‫( َد ْو َلة إ‬Arabic)

Flag Emblem

Anthem: ‫( הַתִּ ְקוָה‬Hatīkvāh; "The Hope")

1:15

Show globe
Map of Israel (Green Line)
Show all
Israel within internationally recognized borders
shown in dark green; Israeli-occupied
territories and the Gaza Strip shown in light
green
Capital Jerusalem
and largest city (limited recognition)
[fn 1][fn 2]

31°47′N 35°13′E

Official language Hebrew

Recognized Arabic[fn 3]
language

Ethnic groups 73% Jews

(2023)[11] 21% Arabs
6% others

Demonym(s) Israeli

Government Unitary parliamentary

republic
• President Isaac Herzog
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
• Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana
• Chief Justice Esther Hayut
Legislature Knesset

Independence out of British Palestine

• Declaration 14 May 1948
• Admission to the 11 May 1949
United Nations
• Basic Laws 1958–2018
Area
• Total 20,770–22,072 km2
(8,019–8,522 sq mi)[a]
(149th)
• Water (%) 2.71 (as of 2015)[12]

Population
• 2023 estimate 9,792,800[13][fn 4]
(93rd)
• 2008 census 7,412,200[14][fn 4]
• Density 444/km2
(1,150.0/sq mi) (29th)

GDP (PPP) 2023 estimate

• Total $537.140 billion[15]
(48th)
• Per capita $54,771[15] (29th)

GDP (nominal) 2023 estimate

• Total $521.688 billion[15]
(29th)
• Per capita $53,195[15] (13th)

Gini (2018) 34.8[fn 4][16]

medium

HDI (2021) 0.919[17]

very high · 22nd

Currency New shekel (₪) (ILS)

Time zone UTC+2:00 (IST)

• Summer (DST) UTC+3:00 (IDT)

Date format ‫שששש‬-‫חח‬-‫( יי‬AM)

dd-mm-yyyy (CE)

Driving side right

Calling code +972

ISO 3166 code IL

Internet TLD .il

a. ^ 20,770 km2 is Israel within the Green Line.

22,072 km2 includes the occupied Golan
Heights (c. 1,200 km2 (460 sq mi)) and East
Jerusalem (c. 64 km2 (25 sq mi)).

Israel is located in the Southern Levant, a

region known historically as Canaan, the Land
of Israel, Palestine and the Holy Land. In the
early first millennium BCE, the Israelite
kingdoms of Israel and Judah emerged,
before falling to the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-
Babylonian empires, respectively.[19][20]
During the classical era, the region was ruled
by the Achaemenid, Macedonian, Ptolemaic
and Seleucid empires. In the 2nd century
BCE, an independent Hasmonean kingdom
emerged, before Rome conquered the area a
century later. In the 7th century CE, the
Muslim conquest of the Levant established
caliphal rule, which was interrupted in the
11th century by the Crusades and fully
restored in the 13th century by the Mamluks,
who lost the area to the Ottoman Empire at
the onset of the 16th century. In the 19th
century, Jews began immigrating to the area
as part of the Zionist movement. After World
War I, the allied powers assigned the Mandate
for Palestine to Britain, which during the war
made a declaration of support for the
establishment of a national home for the
Jewish people in Palestine. Following World
War II and the Holocaust, the newly formed
United Nations adopted the Partition Plan for
Palestine, recommending the creation of
independent Arab and Jewish states, and
placing Jerusalem under international
control. In the final months of the British
Mandate, a civil war broke out between the
Palestinian Arabs and the Yishuv, beginning
the first stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The
British terminated the Mandate on 14 May
1948, and Israel declared independence that
day.

Upon its independence, Israel became almost

immediately embroiled in conflict with its five
neighboring Arab states, whose armies began
entering the area of the former Mandatory
Palestine on 15 May, starting the 1948 Arab–
Israeli War. Early the next year, the 1949
Armistice Agreements left Israel in control of
over one-third more territory than the
partition plan had called for, with no
independent Arab state created. During both
stages of the 1948 Palestine war, over
700,000 Palestinian Arabs were expelled
from or fled Israeli territory to Jordanian-
ruled West Bank, Egyptian-controlled Gaza,
and the neighboring Arab countries, with
fewer than 150,000 Palestinian Arabs
remaining within Israel. During and
immediately after the war, around 260,000
Jews emigrated or fled from the Arab world to
Israel.[21][fn 6] The 1967 Six-Day War resulted
in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and
Gaza Strip, along with the Egyptian Sinai
Peninsula and the Syrian Golan Heights. Israel
has since effectively annexed both East
Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, and has
established settlements across the Israeli-
occupied territories, actions the international
community has rejected as illegal under
international law. Since the 1973 Yom Kippur
War, Israel has signed peace treaties with
Egypt, returning the Sinai Peninsula, and with
Jordan, and more recently normalized
relations with several Arab countries, though
efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian
conflict have not succeeded. Israel's
practices in its occupation of the Palestinian
territories, the longest military occupation in
modern history, have drawn international
condemnation for violating the human rights
of the Palestinians.[22]

The country has a parliamentary system

elected by means of proportional
representation. The prime minister serves as
head of government, and is elected by the
Knesset, Israel's unicameral legislature.[23]
Israel is a developed country and an OECD
member,[24] with a population of over 9
million people as of 2021.[25] It has the
world's 29th-largest economy by nominal
GDP and 13th by nominal GDP per capita.[15]

Etymology

History

Geography and environment

Demographics

Government and politics

Economy

Culture

See also

References

External links

Last edited 9 hours ago by Illegitima…

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